Fender Skirts

Thanks to Roger for this post.

I  came across this phrase yesterday, "FENDER SKIRTS." 



A  term I haven't heard in a long time, and thinking  about  "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that  quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like  "curb feelers"



And "steering  knobs." (AKA) suicide knob.



Since  I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturallywent that  direction first.

Any  kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to  explain some of these terms to you.

Remember  "Continental kits?"

They  were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were  supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln  Continental.



When  did we quit calling them "emergency  brakes?"

At  some point "parking brake" became the proper term.  But I  miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency  brake."

I'm  sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would  call the accelerator the "foot feed."

Didn't  you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so  you could ride the "running board" up to the  house?

Here's  a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore -  "store-bought."  Of course, just about everything is  store-bought these days.  But once it was bragging  material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of  candy.

"Coast  to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement  and now means almost nothing.  Now we take the term  "world wide" for granted.  This floors  me.

On a  smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our  homes.  In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood  floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting!  Today,  everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood  floors.  Go figure.
 

When'sthe last  time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?"  It's  hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a  little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite  company, so we had all that talk about stork visits and "being  in a family way" or simply "expecting."

Apparently  "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage.  I said it the  other day and my daughter cracked up.  I guess it's just  "bra" now.  "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be  understood at all.

 
I  always loved! going to the "picture show," but I considered  "movie" an affectation.

Most  of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s  word I came across the other day - "rat fink."  Ooh, what  a nasty put-down!

Here's  a word I miss - "percolator."  That was just a fun word  to say.  And what was it replaced with?  "Coffee  maker."  How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for  this.

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I  miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so  modern and now sound so retro.  Words like "DynaFlow" and  "Electrolux."  Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with  "SpectraVision!"

 
Food  for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago?   Nobody complains of that anymore.  Maybe that's  what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers  threatening kids with castor oil anymore.

Some  words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list.   The one that grieves me most, "supper."  Now  everybody says "dinner."  Save a great word.  Invite  someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts

Someone  forwarded this to me.  I thought some of us of a "certain  age" would remember most of these.

Just  for fun, pass it along to others of "a certain  age"!

IF YOU AREN'T OF A CERTAIN AGE. YOU  MUST KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS.